Nightmares and Dai Li
by Paranoidgirl
Summary: After his botched Corronation, Wu starts to get plaqued by nightmares... And Mako starts to realize there might be something more to them.
1. Chapter 1

A prologue to a story I came up with exploring Prince Wu's possible history. Might have some 'Wuko'-ish shadings.

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><p>"Please?"<p>

"No."  
>"Just for one night?"<p>

"No!"

"Breakfast's on me."

"No, Your Highness. I will NOT spend the night with you in this suite!" Mako almost shouted at Wu, sounding pretty tired of arguing. "Listen, I know the last couple of days have been rough on you, but I really don't think me being in this suite during the night will make any difference." He said a little calmer. The powerless King just looked at the ground in defeat. It had been almost a week since Kuvira disrupted his coronation and basically took the Earth Kingdom from him and Mako wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't slept since then. After a rather embarrassing display in the Little Ba Sing Se Shopping Mall, Wu seemed to have veered into the opposite direction, becoming very morose and nearly mute. At this point he looked dead on his feet. Broken down. Defeated.

"Listen. I-I know this isn't part of your job. But I haven't been able to sleep ever since what Kuvira did. I just see her supporters in every shadow…. and I think that I'll be able to if you're near me. You make me feel safe. A-and I'm sure that even just one night of sleeping well will make a big difference in how I feel. Will help me get back into my groove." He tried, sounding almost desperate. "After that... You don't have to do it anymore. Promise." He looked up at Mako, eyes begging. He just sighed.

"Fine. But just this one night, alright?" This caused Wu to smile brightly.

"I knew you'd come around. I'll ask room service for some blankets so the couch won't be too uncomfortable."

"Waitaminute, the couch?!" Mako protested.

"Well, yes." Wu answered, sounding a bit oblivious. "Where else are you going to sleep? There's only one bed and I have to use the tub in the morning."

"Please don't tell me I have to be along for that, too…." Mako said, as Wu simply smiled sheepishly. This was going to be a long night….

Mako grunted, shifting his position on the couch again. He was at one of those moments where he started to doubt his career decisions again… this wasn't what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to protect people, not be some kind of butler who waited hand and feet on some spoiled upperclass twit.

A shout from Wu's bedroom brought him out of his musings and put him on edge immediately. Conjuring up a small flame he entered the other room.

Nothing. No one besides the sleeping Monarch was there. However, another scream sounded trough the room and it soon became apparent what was happening.

"Leave… leave me alone." Wu muttered, twisting and turning in his sheets but not waking up. Mako sighed, dissipating the flame. A nightmare. He carefully approached the other man.

"Your Highness?" He asked, shaking his shoulder. It didn't work.

"Mom? Dad? Wake up…." Wu started talking again.

"Wu?" Mako said, a little louder and a little bit more worried.

"Wake up… Please wake up… WakeupwakeupWAKEUP!" At the last word Wu shot up, opening his eyes. This startled Mako, making him reel backwards as Wu sat there, trembling. "Mako?" He eventually asked, voice small.

"It's alright. You were just having a nightmare." Wu just looked down, pulling the covers up, obviously still scared. Mako prepared to leave, but Wu latched onto his arm. "Stay… please stay." He begged.

"But I…." Mako tried, but one look in his employer's eyes shut him up. This was genuine terror. Sighing, he sat down next to the other man on the bed. "I want a bonus after this night." He said, as Wu simply kept clinging onto him until he fell into a more restful sleep.

The next morning was…. awkward as the two of them sat at the breakfast table, eating in silence, not knowing what to say to one another.

"That was… quite the nightmare." Mako decided to start with.

"I'm used to that one by now." Wu muttered.

"Not the first time, huh?" Mako tried to be sympathetic.

"It comes with intervals, usually when I'm stressed out. Last time it was after I managed to flee Ba Sing Se after the inner wall fell."

"May I ask what it was about?" Mako decided to try. The fact that Wu was calling for his parents in the nightmare… struck a chord.

"Not really that complicated. I'm in these dark streets at night and…. I see my parents, laying before me. I try to wake them up but these people approach me and start attacking me. So I run, but they're much faster and then…." He held his head in both hands. "That's usually where I wake up."

"Did such a thing… happen to your parents?"

"No." Wu said, voice suddenly becoming very even and a bit monotone. "They were on Holiday. Their boat sank." He said in that monotone, before blinking.

"Guess it's more symbolic then anything else then, I guess. Like, you felt safe around them and with them gone, the people opposing the Earth Kingdom Monarchy chasing you feel like a much larger threat."

"They're not Kuvira supporters." Wu corrected him. "In fact….. They're wearing… they're wearing the Earth Kingdom emblem on their chests." He held his head, trying to remember things properly. "And then there are these rock hands they shot out…." Mako spat out his breakfast when he heard that. "You okay? Were those eggs undercooked because I can ask the chef for new ones."

"That's the Dai Li you're talking about." Mako said.

"The Dai Li? But they're part of the Royal Guard. True, I never actually saw them in person, but why would they be after me? I'm part of the people they're supposed to serve."

"Still, sounds very much like them." Mako said.

"You think it's more symbolism?" Wu said, looking down at his plate. "Like I… instinctively know I'm not the best for the Earth Kingdom or something among those lines?"

"Perhaps…" Mako said, tough he doubted it. Things weren't quite right here... Wu just groaned.

"All this is making my head hurt. And I still don't feel rested up." He stood up. "That's it. Today's a Spa day. And you're coming along."

"You sure act more like yourself." Mako sighed, not knowing to be happy about it or not.

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><p>Sorry if it seems a bit unfinished. It's fairly obvious I have larger plans for this, but this is the only part I feel I can publish without having seen the full season, as the following parts are getting into 'Life-changing field trip' territory and I'm a bit of a canon-hound. To be continued after the Season has finished.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

That was sooner then expected. Inspiration struck for a new character I wanted to integrate into the story. Hope it's enjoyable.

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><p>Night in one of the darker, poorer parts of Republic city. Street Lights almost didn't reach here, the vines stopping almost all of it. It was here where two men in dark coats met.<p>

"Did you do your parts?"

"I sure did. Managed to snag two jobs at the Restaurant our dear 'King' loves. Reaching him will be easy as pie."

"Good. I managed to get ourselves some nice getaway. Now all that's left is…" They looked behind them at a derelict building. A small flower shop. And despite how it looked, all the flowers displayed on the outside were lush and colorful. Almost to a disturbing degree.

"You sure this is the place?" The other man asked.

"Pretty sure. They say he's the best in the business." With that they entered the store, which still seemed open, even at this time of night, as a little bell rang when they stepped in.

"Hello?" One of them called after a while of no one coming over to greet them while the other took the time to admire the many brightly colored flowers and plants in the shop. "We've heard word on the street you have a…. 'After Hours Special'. We're interested."

"After Hours Special? Really?"

"Hey, I didn't come up with it." About then a loud crashing sound could be heard from the back room. Perplexed, the two rushed in and witnessed a rather unique scene.

A large black snake was currently upright, his feathered hood extended, looking extremely dangerous as he loomed over a young, brown-skinned man in clothes as bright and poisonous red and green as many of the plants in the shop, who had his arms raised as the two circled around each other, each waiting for the other to strike.

"By the spirits…."

"Good evening, gentlemen. Give me a moment, I'll be right there." The stranger said, not taking his eye of the creature he was circling.

"T-that's a Cobracrow…. one of the most poisonous and lethal creatures on the planet!"

"So I've noticed." The stranger said, before the Cobracrow raised himself even further, opening his mouth and revealing his fangs. "Whatever you do, do not move!" With that, the creature spat, venom shooting out of his fangs. The stranger raised his hand and the liquid suspended in the air in dozens of tiny droplets. Making a circular motion with his arms, the liquid gathered in a small orb as he grasped a vial from a back pocket, guided the poison inside and inspected it. "This dose is even bigger than last week's. Great job, Ila!" He enthusiastically said as the snake retracted it's feathered hood and put his body down and approached the man in a much more friendly manner. He just stroked the creature, who closed her eyes contently. "Who's a good girl? You're a good girl. Yes you are. Yes you are." After a while, one of the two 'customers' coughed, making the man look up. "Oh, right. Right." He said, turning towards the animal again. "Daddy's going to talk business now. Be a good girl, alright?" With that Ila slithered off into a corner on a pillow, rolling in a ball as the stranger looked up at the two men. "So sorry about that. The name's Siluk, I'm the owner of this humble shop." He smiled friendly, putting his hand forward as it was hesitantly shaken twice. "Seeing the time of night you decided to come, I highly doubt you want a nice bouquet to woo a pretty gal."

"We're on a mission from Kuvira." One of them said, while the other prodded him.

"Don't just go and say that!" He hissed. Kiluk just laughed.

"Don't worry. I don't care about what your goal is. As long as I get paid, I don't care if it's for assassinating the Avatar or whatever. So, what did you guys have in mind? I sell poisons of every ilk. You want it ingested? Injected?" He started, voice going fast as if he tried to sell any normal product. "Injected is the fastest way, but ingested is usually more easy to manage if you don't have direct access to the victim."

"How about gaseous?"

"Ah. Yes, I have that too. Not that popular because it risks innocent bystanders, but that's usually because people don't know what they're doing. So. You want swift and painless or slow and painful?"

"We, uhm… we just want to knock someone out." One of them said as Kiluk's smiled dropped, before he shrugged and beaconed them to follow them to a table with several flowers in pots on it, together with a lot of empty vials. He took hold of a rather large, bright red one.

"The lovely Dawnshade." He said, holding a hand over and moving it upwards and downwards slowly, the flower dancing along the rythm. "They used to say it's smell was powerful enough to transport your mind to the spirit world." A last upward movement and a large amount of reddish liquid came from the flower as it wilted instantly. "It's concentrated juices are powerful enough to knock someone out for at least three hours." With that, he guided it into a small empty sprayer, before giving it to the two. "That'll be three-hundred big ones."

"Three hundred?!"

"Feel free to try and search for a better option. But when you'll return from failing to do so, the price will have risen to five hundred." Kiluk answered, crossing his arms, making the two man look at each other, before taking out the right amount of money. "I'm glad you reconsidered. Anything else?" He said, giving them the poison.

"No… This will do fine. Thanks and… goodbye." With that they hurriedly left.

"Long live the Great Uniter!" Kiluk jokingly called after them, before closing the door to his shop.

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><p>Feel free to review.<p> 


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